MAT 402 -- Topics in Number Theory (Spring 2014)

Time and Place : TuTh 10-11:20 pm; Library N4000

Instructor : Radu Laza

Office : Math Tower 4-121
Email :  rlaza@math.sunysb.edu

Office Hours: TuThr 11:30-12:30 (my office), by appointment, Thr 1-2 in P143 (advising)

Overview

This is a research seminar for undergraduates in mathematics. The broad topic of the class is "Number Theory" (especially computational aspects and Cryptography). The goal of this class is to expose you to more advanced topics in math, things that you will not typically encounter in the usual undergraduate courses.

For the first half of the semester we will follow:
W. Stein, Elementary Number Theory (Primes, Congruences, and Secrets), freely available online, or you can buy a hardcopy.

I also recommend you to install SAGE, a freely available software package for number theoretic computations.

Schedule

The first half of the semester, we will cover the textbook. Specifically: At this point, we should have enough background to go into more advanced subjects. After Spring Break, we will discuss a number of specialized topics depending on your interests.
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